Jennifer Garner Says She ‘Could Cry’ Recalling Tabloid Scrutiny She Faced When Married To Ben Affleck

In a new interview with “CBS Sunday Morning”, the 46-year-old actress says intense tabloid scrutiny — specifically, stories regarding her highly publicized marriage and eventual split from Ben Affleck — put pressure on her private life.

Garner recalls a time when there were as many as 15 to 20 cars parked outside her home on the weekends, looking for any information they could dig up on her and her family.

“Looking back on that, I really feel the stress of it,” says Garner, who shares three kids, Violet, 12, Seraphina, 9 and Samuel, 6, with Affleck. “I really — I could cry talking about it.”

“What I think I’ve learned is that the scrutiny in your private life puts a pressure to make something happen,” she continues. “You feel a pressure to hurry up and get married, ’cause you think that’ll end the, ‘Are they engaged? Are they not?’ And that’s true in the reverse, as well. If you are — if there is any inkling of trouble, or if the tabloids decide there’s trouble, it can create trouble. But to be honest, public scrutiny, everyone says, ‘Oh, you’ve had to go through this in public.’ The public isn’t what’s hard. What’s hard is going through it.”

Garner and Affleck tied the knot in 2005, ultimately separating in 2015. The 45-year-old actor has since moved on with “Saturday Night Live” producer Lindsay Shookus, but he and Garner remain amicable for their children.

“Our kids are lucky to have a dad who looks at them the way you look at them and loves them the way you love them, @benaffleck,” the brunette beauty said of Affleck last month on Instagram. “#happyfathersday #threeluckykids #haveagreatday.”

Hear more in the video below, and watch Garner’s full “CBS Sunday Morning” interview on Sunday, July 15 at 9 a.m. ET/PT on CBS.